What music have you been playing lately? [Archive]

everythingtoexcess

12-28-2012, 04:19 PM

I've been learning covers. Unbelievably, I've been learning covers that are CURRENTLY POPULAR and that I DON'T HATE. It's a dark and mysterious world. Home by Phillip Phillips, Some Nights by Fun, Eyes Wide Open by Gotye and I Won't Give Up by Jason Mraz. I don't even know who I am anymore. They'll all be dropped into the set with my acoustic group, possibly as soon as Sunday. To counteract all the "hip-ness" we are also adding acoustic versions of Hungry Like the Wolf and Crazy Train (with violin playing the opening riff.)

nosebone

12-28-2012, 06:08 PM

I currently have the new David Gilmour ( not PF's Gilmour) CD Numerology in my amazing slow downer.

This guy plays some real nice lines!

trurl

12-28-2012, 07:45 PM

I'm learning the Glass Hammer Cruise to the Edge set ;)

Yodelgoat

12-28-2012, 09:30 PM

Working more on original material. I opened a thread about doing some collaberating here, since I cant seem to finish anything. Ive realized that I need to come up with some lyrics, so I'm thrashing through some stupid ones right now trying to come up with something not totally nauseating. Lyrics take time for me. Bad lyrics are like morning breath. They are far too prevalent and no one likes them. I posted a 15 minute song without any words, and the response has been somewhat cool (not the good cool, the bad one) Once I have vocal melodies established, and the words are a little more useful, I may get some increased interest. Until then, its just sounding "disjointed" (as one poster kindly put it). So its off to the studio tonight to try to turn sucky lyrics into something that helps the music sound more coherent. Its tough to get people to hear "potential", and I fear I have made the fatal mistake of posting something incomplete.

So singing stuff that even I dont like is what I'm up to. Any wonder I never finish any songs?

No Pride

12-29-2012, 02:52 PM

Crap copy band material
Welcome to my nightmare! Been making a living playing crappy copy band stuff for 30+ years. Not what I had in mind when I chose music as a vocation. On the other hand, I'm grateful that I'm still making a "living" at it in this day and age, when many of my musician bretheren have had to reinvent themselves to get by.

I was playing every Thursday night with a great Brasilian band; we did it for 11 years, but just got kicked out of the club a month ago. Why? Because the owner discovered she could get bands to play there for free. Stupid, prideless young musicians! That gig was my salvation for all this time. Besides being a really good cast of players, I got to PLAY in that band... and not just 8 bar solos like you get in most pop/rock cover music (if you get a solo at all).

I'm still doing some gigs that are musically satisfying, but it's sporadic now; one or two a month. I actually have to work harder (through practicing) to maintain my chops. If you don't use 'em, you lose 'em... and I have no intention of letting that happen!

The latin jazz fusion band I'm in, Chevere has a weekend coming up at Chicago's Green Mill soon. I'm looking forward to that! It IS mostly original material; a lot of it written by our pianist/harmonica player, Howard Levy (yes, of Flecktones fame). We play about three of my tunes too.

rapidfirerob

12-29-2012, 03:03 PM

Welcome to my nightmare! Been making a living playing crappy copy band stuff for 30+ years. Not what I had in mind when I chose music as a vocation. On the other hand, I'm grateful that I'm still making a "living" at it in this day and age, when many of my musician bretheren have had to reinvent themselves to get by.

I was playing every Thursday night with a great Brasilian band; we did it for 11 years, but just got kicked out of the club a month ago. Why? Because the owner discovered she could get bands to play there for free. Stupid, prideless young musicians! That gig was my salvation for all this time. Besides being a really good cast of players, I got to PLAY in that band... and not just 8 bar solos like you get in most pop/rock cover music (if you get a solo at all).

I'm still doing some gigs that are musically satisfying, but it's sporadic now; one or two a month. I actually have to work harder (through practicing) to maintain my chops. If you don't use 'em, you lose 'em... and I have no intention of letting that happen!

The latin jazz fusion band I'm in, Chevere has a weekend coming up at Chicago's Green Mill soon. I'm looking forward to that! It IS mostly original material; a lot of it written by our pianist/harmonica player, Howard Levy (yes, of Flecktones fame). We play about three of my tunes too.
You mean you didn't make millions from Bad Dog U, shocking! I'm still hoping to see a second album someday. The few friends making a living in music teach and play on the side. Glad to see you're still doing it. I have a day job and play on the side for fun mostly. Not getting rich from playing Allman Bros. covers.

Poisoned Youth

12-29-2012, 03:36 PM

I currently have the new David Gilmour ( not PF's Gilmour) CD Numerology in my amazing slow downer.

This guy plays some real nice lines!

I had no idea there was a new Gilmore album. Big fan. Thanks for the heads up!

fictionmusic

12-29-2012, 04:25 PM

yeah getting work is harder and harder these days no doubt. A lot of it is because of the economy, a lot because of the general attitude of the players. The download generation seems to think that attention is a commodity in itself and are busy undercutting everyone. As a music supervisor said to me a few years ago when some audio guy at Steve's was willing to do his score for nothing, "you can't beat free". Nope. But, and this is always the case, you get what you pay for. In his case it was a massive law suit as the loops Vanni was busy pilfering in his "free" score, were actually copyrighted material (but that's another story).
In general I find the kids who download so much for free seem willing to give what they do away for the same. That's all fine and good when your dad pays your rent and your internet bills, but when you are grown up and have to raise children of your own you might be wanting to actually get paid for something you've spent so long trying to master.

In any event, I am doing a lot of solo guitar gigs these days. I do chord solos a la Joe Pass. It's something I have been doing for years as an aside but beyond the solo piece here or there in a local jazz set, I never really have concentrated on a whole night of it. I love it and it opens up venues I wouldn't normally play (read restaurants and coffee shops). I'm still grateful my main income is writing for TV though, but man, even that side of things is being taken over by the "we'll do it for free" dicks, that actual cash in pocket seems more gig bound. The big cheques are royalties still, but the up front user fees are getting harder and harder to expect.

fictionmusic

12-29-2012, 04:30 PM

as far as songs go.... I am playing tunes like Footprints, Laura, Hope, God Bless the Child, My Favorite Things, Peace, Take 5, All Blues, some originals etc etc.

Lebofsky

12-30-2012, 01:49 PM

Being on the road is actually really bad for your chops. I was out for 7 weeks recently, playing mostly keyboards, so now I'm fighting just to get my bass guitar fingers back. I usually do so by playing along with my old prog faves, with a strong focus on Jean-Luc Ponty (Enigmatic Ocean, Imaginary Voyage), along with various modern indie rock and post rock faves as well. I'm also working on new material for various bands (written by others) while hammering out some new tunes myself. Lots of recording planned this winter/spring...

- Matt

everythingtoexcess

12-30-2012, 02:51 PM

I think I have a killer acoustic version of Subdivisions worked out, but JEEZUS is it hard to keep the time signatures straight. Lots of work ahead before that's stage ready.

zombywoof

01-01-2013, 02:38 PM

Mostly scales to keep dexterity and tone over the Christmas break. Nothing special or exciting.

No Pride

01-01-2013, 02:57 PM

yeah getting work is harder and harder these days no doubt. A lot of it is because of the economy, a lot because of the general attitude of the players. The download generation seems to think that attention is a commodity in itself and are busy undercutting everyone. As a music supervisor said to me a few years ago when some audio guy at Steve's was willing to do his score for nothing, "you can't beat free". Nope. But, and this is always the case, you get what you pay for. In his case it was a massive law suit as the loops Vanni was busy pilfering in his "free" score, were actually copyrighted material (but that's another story).
In general I find the kids who download so much for free seem willing to give what they do away for the same. That's all fine and good when your dad pays your rent and your internet bills, but when you are grown up and have to raise children of your own you might be wanting to actually get paid for something you've spent so long trying to master.

In any event, I am doing a lot of solo guitar gigs these days. I do chord solos a la Joe Pass. It's something I have been doing for years as an aside but beyond the solo piece here or there in a local jazz set, I never really have concentrated on a whole night of it. I love it and it opens up venues I wouldn't normally play (read restaurants and coffee shops).
Solo guitar is tough! I can do it to some extent, but the way I do it is nothing special; not worth playing for an audience that's actually paying attention. I think I'd have to dedicate a lot of practice time to getting it in the ballpark of my own satisfaction. The hardest part for me is improvising a solo after you've played the melody; it's kinda like walking around in public with no clothes on... at least for me it is. So kudos for tackling it, David!

fictionmusic

01-01-2013, 06:42 PM

Solo guitar is tough! I can do it to some extent, but the way I do it is nothing special; not worth playing for an audience that's actually paying attention. I think I'd have to dedicate a lot of practice time to getting it in the ballpark of my own satisfaction. The hardest part for me is improvising a solo after you've played the melody; it's kinda like walking around in public with no clothes on... at least for me it is. So kudos for tackling it, David!

Yah I know what you mean Ernie. It was something I had to do at school every year, where we were expected to play a chord melody of some jazz head in a jury situation. I usually hated it although I did pretty well. Imagine walking around in public with no clothes on in front of a bunch of models and photographers.

Luckily in the contexts I do it in now, no-one is there just for the music; it is more an ambience thing.

In a way I was lucky in that I have had to do a ton of gigs with just a sax or vocalist in the last few years and got used to going out for a solo without any backing. The cool thing is, in this kind of context you can play freely with tempo and phrasing. I found, expecially in the sax duet, that keeping the groove and still soloing a challenge. The moment you'd get into weird phrasing, the bottom seemed to fall out so the solos usually were very melody oriented and very much in the chords. Now I can go a little further afield when I want. It also helps that I change the keys wherever necessary so I can use open strings etc. Take 5, for example, sounds good in Emin with a ton of open string harmonics pushing it along.

All in all it's great fun and every now and then I get someone who is a jazz-bo telling me how much they like that kind of thing. It is seldom done anymore.

Amy

01-01-2013, 07:04 PM

The first three and a half minutes of echolyn's "Lovesick Morning", Calprog-style - i.e., Buzbyish. :)

arabicadabra

01-01-2013, 11:19 PM

Some Latin rhythms by a British guy....

That's all I can say for now.....

Pekka

01-02-2013, 06:28 AM

Lenny White-Venusian Summer to name a few. I'm a bass player.

I've playing that on a bass from time to time. Doug Rauch' style is very unique and is always a great inspiration and a source too. I've been practising the double-thumbin' style he used and still haven't got strength to play "Mating Drive" that fast. It's hard with a pick too. "Chicken-Fried Steak" is fun to play too.

Lately I've been playing Pekka Pohjola, Cheap Trick, Talking Heads, early Whitesnake (Murray rules) and original material (on bass, guitar and Yamaha CS01).

Yodelgoat

01-06-2013, 11:34 AM

Just finished recording the drum tracks for a 17 minute long song - Since drums is probably my 4th most skillful instrument, I did it in small pieces - like 1 or 2 minutes each. I had to practice each segment over and over, and the I had to get extremely lucky where I hit everything just right. I used to play with a really good drummer, - He played on the first Presto Ballet album (if you can recall that one) and he would have killed this song in just a few takes. Its disturbing that I'm currently the best drummer I know.

I can proudly say that no drum machines were used, nor harmed during the recording of this song. I hated using them for years and finally manned up, and picked "real" drums back up after a 20 year hiaitus.

I hop around on various instruments, Voice Guitar, bass, drums, Keys and woodwinds. Although I am not ashamed of my skill level on any of these, I am a master of none of them. I make sure I spend at least a few minutes a week on each, though the Tenor sax and Flute often get neglected. I use them somewhat sparingly in my composing, but it makes me feel better about my clumsiness around the other instruments, if I tell myself I can play woodwinds as well.

progeezer

01-06-2013, 06:33 PM

I've been listening to a lot of doo-wop over the past few days, and my theory as a self-analyzing shrink (the worst kind!) is that it's the music I loved and sang when I was a teenager, so it brings back many pleasant memories of a time when my life was mostly ahead of me instead of mostly the other way:D.

sonic

01-07-2013, 01:28 AM

progeezer

01-07-2013, 01:27 PM

But have you been singing doo-wop latetly? :)Actually, yes I have. While at 68 my short-term memory ain't what it used to be, my long-term memory seems to work well enough that after over 50 frickin' years, I can remember every lyric, as well as the bass and falsetto singer's fills almost perfectly from the years I was in doo-wop groups, so I can't help but sing along.

For those who know a little about the doo-wop pastiche, I've also sung "Oh, What A Night" by The Dells, "Tonight, Tonight" by The Mello-Kings and "Rama Lama Ding Dong" by The Edsels with a live band within the last 4 months:).

Performed the old "post before reading OP' stunt on this one, but the above is a fact, so whew!:D.

B D

01-11-2013, 02:03 PM

Been playing a lot of KEYBOARDS: our circa 1940 Hammond (with original tone cabinet) , a Solina combo organ and a Challen upright piano. I've used "sprinklings" of piano and organ here and there on my tunes over the decades but I was lucky if I could play 4 or 5 (deliberate) chords in succession without trying it a million times. Now that I've been playing a lot on a regular basis the improvement is exponential and I'm EXCITED because I have always loved that big noisy organ sound and rockin' piano and could imagine being the person playing it, etc. Thus my next solo album will have a lot of organ and piano on it, some songs where they are the main instruments. Maybe some where they are the only instruments!

BD
www.bdrak.com

Jefferson James

01-11-2013, 03:20 PM

Being on the road is actually really bad for your chops. I was out for 7 weeks recently, playing mostly keyboards, so now I'm fighting just to get my bass guitar fingers back.

I've never regretted my decision to work a straight job instead of music but I always wanted -- still do -- to go on a long tour just to see what my chops would be like playing 5-6 nights a week. Matt, your bass skills may have gotten a tad rusty but I bet your keyboard chops are untouchable right now!

Me? Just playing Heliopolis music on bass, over and over. And over again just to be sure.

Mikhael

01-11-2013, 03:39 PM

I've never regretted my decision to work a straight job instead of music but I always wanted -- still do -- to go on a long tour just to see what my chops would be like playing 5-6 nights a week. Matt, your bass skills may have gotten a tad rusty but I bet your keyboard chops are untouchable right now!

Me? Just playing Heliopolis music on bass, over and over. And over again just to be sure.

I've noticed that, here recently, my chops have started to improve. In thinking about it, I concluded that since I'm currently playing in two bands, and they're both playing out fairly often, that this is what is improving my playing. I'm the primary improviser in both bands, and I try to use those occasions wisely; by that I mean playing something flowing and melodic, while still pushing my limits in certain places. It seems to be moving my playing up a notch.

MudShark22

01-16-2013, 05:34 PM

I've never regretted my decision to work a straight job instead of music but I always wanted -- still do -- to go on a long tour just to see what my chops would be like playing 5-6 nights a week.

Me too. Whilst we were only playing one / two gigs per month; we would rehearse / jam twice a week so our chops were stoopid good.

I listen to some keys runs I did back then and how it seemed like I never used the same sound in the same song twice live! (I think thats just because I was high and its dark on stage...). Now 12 years later, my chops are just stoopid! :lol

arabicadabra

01-16-2013, 08:11 PM

I could tell you, but then the other members of Pinnacle would shoot me... :)

Yodelgoat

01-18-2013, 12:19 PM

I just had to record bass for the first time in a couple of years, and its been amazingly difficult to get the parts right. Ive been working on my drum chops and vocals most intensley for a long time, and now, it seems I play bass like I did in jr high! Just noodling around on bass is not the same as constructing real bass lines that are at least somewhat interesting, and actually playing them correctly enough to keep the computer from bursting out laughing. Only computers get to hear my gaffes , but its amazing how different you feel playing to someone, or something thats actually listening. Its a totally different experience with an audience - even one you can shut off.

fictionmusic

01-19-2013, 11:13 PM

I thought I'd post some of the original jazzy stuff I have being doing lately. I borrowed a Zoom recorder and took it out to a gig and also had some buddies over to record. Then I did a chord solo gtr piece I had been working on (Coltrane's Naima) and posted them all to soundcloud. Here it is.

https://soundcloud.com/fictionmusictv/sets/jazz

sonic

01-20-2013, 04:23 AM

fictionmusic

01-20-2013, 12:50 PM

That was awesome! Thanks.

thank you! I've never posted the straight ahead jazz stuff I do so positive feedback is welcome!

No Pride

01-20-2013, 02:10 PM

Sounds really nice, David! Are you using a big box archtop?

fictionmusic

01-20-2013, 08:00 PM

Sounds really nice, David! Are you using a big box archtop?

Thanks Ernie! Coming from you that's quite a compliment.
I have a Howard Roberts Fusion, which is a solid centre piece and a hollow side pieces (kinda like a 335) into a Fender amp. Typically I use a Mesa even for jazzy stuff, but those two live ones are a Fender Hot Rod Deluxe and the two studio ones are direct into a tube pre-amp.

everythingtoexcess

01-20-2013, 08:27 PM

This.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AJiXSEcydgI&feature=share&list=UU1xBOUO3KTKPxjPH2x6ZVOw
The audience noise seems really loud because we're forced to play SO quietly. You can tell in the measure before the guitar solo when I turn my head away from the mic and the volume of my voice is almost unchanged. I didn't realize we were THAT quiet.

Polypet

01-25-2013, 01:58 PM

there are some excellent tunes in that style from Billy Joel - River of Dreams being an especially modern but reverential take with a great groove... "in the middle of the... i go walking in the..." :)

bill g

02-07-2013, 06:41 PM

I pretty much strictly play new compositions these days. Have a bunch of new music for a future Cirrus Bay cd hopefully. Some is written on acoustic guitar, some on electric guitar, some on piano and some on synthesizer. The new stuff is quite enjoyable to play anyway. And I haven't always been able to say that!

everythingtoexcess

02-07-2013, 07:40 PM

The vocal ensemble at my school is doing Toto's Africa for the spring concert, so I'm teaching my guitar ensemble a pretty slick arrangement of it. It'll be two acoustics and percussion and should be pretty cool...if they freakin' practice. All I ask is that they work on it 1/2 hr a day and it just ain't happening.

Norman Phay

02-10-2013, 04:18 PM

I've been messing around with some old sheet music scores - "Painting the Clouds with Sunshine" from 1929, "Paradise" from '31 (this one is really good) and "By a Waterfall" from '33. Arranging them for different combinations of synthesizer sounds, trying to pushmyself out of a rut.

Yodelgoat

02-14-2013, 05:33 PM

last night I finished recording drum parts for a song I've been working on for over 8 years. And I found a click in every snare hit. Its caused by either a gate opening, or clipping.... So, even though this is only for my enjoyment, I erased the drum part and started from scratch. Its always worth it to make your fans wait for it all to be done right. Especially if your fan is yourself.

Thats what I've been up to today. Incidentally, I have a much better snare sound, and I'm actually a better drummer today than I was when I started doing drums on this song. Thats the real satisfaction. Anything worth doing is worth doing right. I sent myself an email telling me how dissapointing it was that I hadnt finished the song. I responded that I should go bite myself. Wich I promtly did. Ouch. Fans can be real bastards at times.